The present disclosure relates to a vehicle frame and, more particularly, to a frame subcomponent for separating a vehicle's cab portion and its load-carrying bed. In one embodiment, the frame subcomponent is a wall structure disposed on and between spaced frame rails of the vehicle's frame and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it is to be appreciated that the frame subcomponent could relate to other similar environments and applications.
Frames on pickup trucks and like vehicles often include a pair of spaced frame rails extending along the length of the vehicle. Cross members are used to connect the spaced frame rails and, together with the frame rails, provide a rigid ladder-like frame upon which a cab structure and a load-carrying bed structure can be mounted. Typically, the frame consisting of the frame rails and cross members is subassembled independently of the cab structure and the load-carrying bed structure. Likewise, the cab and load carrying-bed structures are subassembled separately and independently of one another. Once these components are subassembled, the cab structure and the bed structure, which are sometimes together referred to as the vehicle body, are mounted to the frame with conventional body mounts.
Conventional load-carrying bed structures are often open-box structures including a rectangular bed floor, sidewalls extending upward from three of four edges of the bed floor and an openable tailgate extending along the remaining edge of the bed floor. When mounted to a ladder-like vehicle frame, the tailgate is oriented at one end of the frame rails opposite the cab structure. The sidewalls include two opposed lateral sidewalls and a forward sidewall positioned opposite the tailgate.
In conventional bed structures, the forward sidewall is generally a free-standing wall that is independent of the cab structure, i.e., the forward sidewall is not shared by the cab structure. Likewise, the independently assembled cab structure is an enclosed structure that includes a rear wall that is separate from the bed structure. While the cab structure and bed structures can be connected to one another, typically they are each entirely independent structures. Thus, the forward sidewall of the bed structure and the rear wall of the bed structure extend along side one another in generally parallel, but spaced, relation.